The author's primary theme was that central banking that used fiat money has led to failures, encouraged wars and became an instrument of totalitarianism. The central bank of the US was conceptualized in 1910 during a secret meeting on Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia. Through various political and financial manipulations by a handful of wealthy people, the US central bank was created and deceptively named the Federal Reserve System, commonly called the Fed. The name was purposefully selected to fool people into thinking that the Fed was a part of the Federal government.